Julien shuffles Galchenyuk to left wing
The big news coming out of the Canadiens’ practice in Brossard on Wednesday was the latest instalment in the Alex Galchenyuk soap opera.
Less than 12 hours after saying Galchenyuk hadn’t played well in a 2-1 overtime loss to Detroit, coach Claude Julien sat down with the forward and told him that he was moving from centre on the top line to left wing on a line with Andrew Shaw and Artturi Lehkonen. While Julien said he hasn’t been around long enough to assess Galchenyuk’s play as a winger, the move seemed to be the latest suggestion that Galchenyuk is not a centre.
The line shift overshadowed the other news of the day. During his post-practice news conference, Julien wouldn’t confirm that Carey Price would start in goal against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night (7:30 p.m., RSE, RDS, TSN 690 Radio).
“Carey’s not 100 per cent and I’ll make a decision tomorrow,” said Julien. Price, who was the backup to Al Montoya against Detroit on Tuesday, practised Wednesday, but wasn’t in the dressing room after the session. He was involved in a collision with a teammate during practice, but didn’t appear to be shaken up. Given Price’s medical history, there’s always concern when he’s not 100 per cent.
Julien had hoped that Galchenyuk would find some chemistry with Max Pacioretty and Alex Radulov, but he conceded that it wasn’t working and Phillip Danault moves back to the top unit.
“We thought those three guys together, if they had that chemistry going, would have been a dangerous line,” said Julien. “We gave them some games, from the two against Ottawa until last night, but there comes a time when you have to make a decision for the individual, as well as for the team.
“After reflecting on last night’s game, as well as some of those before, it was just a matter of making the change to see if we can find a better balance in our lineup.”
The party line is that everyone is happy with the change, but it remains to be seen whether it produces results. “Me and coach, we had a good meeting before practice, and we talked about certain things,” said Galchenyuk. “We talked about me going back to the wing, and we’re going to try to work it out. It’s nothing new for me.”
Having three guys who want the puck was one problem with the top line, but there were problems specific to Galchenyuk. His defensive play was a liability and he had trouble winning faceoffs with a 42.4 per cent success rate.